This message was edited on
June 28, 2009 at
05:38:14 PM by Gary Thomas
Brent Kaeding wins 11th Pombo/Sargent Classic Saturday night at Tulare Thunderbowl- Bobby Hogge IV takes WSM championship
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – June 27, 2009…In front of a solid crowd at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway Saturday night fans witnessed 13-time King of California Brent Kaeding continue his mastery of the Pombo/Sargent Classic and score his fourth consecutive win in the event at the helm of his familiar Al's Roofing Supply No. 69. Also sharing victory lane at the event were Richard Vanderweerd with the Bandit 360 Sprints and Bobby Hogge IV with the Western States Modifieds, who also took home his first WSM title.
The victory not only marked Kaeding's 11th win at the Pombo/Sargent Classic, but also his second consecutive with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series and third overall this season with the tour. "I have to thank my guys because we had this car great tonight and it feels awesome to get another Pombo/Sargent win," Kaeding said. "We had a lot of wins over at Hanford in this race and have been pretty successful ever since it moved to Tulare. I know Bud's won the Pombo/Sargent a couple times before and Tim has won it too so I don't know how many times a Kaeding has won this deal, but it's been a good one for us over the years."
The 30 lap Golden State Challenge Series main event started off with pole sitter Tyler Walker of Los Angeles getting the jump heading into turn one, however third starting Tommy Tarlton got a huge push off the bottom through turns three and four and took command as the field completed the opening circuit. Two-time King of California Jonathan Allard showed his strength early on as he charged up from the third row to take over second from Walker going into turn one on lap three, although got into the corner a little hot on the slick surface and looped the car to a stop, forcing him to the rear of the field.
On the restart the battle for second heated up as Kaeding went to the high side and charged around Walker for the runner-up spot. At the same time Grass Valley's Jason Statler then got a major run off turn two to rocket under Walker as well and make a bid at Kaeding heading into the third and fourth corners. Just as soon as they were about to battle it out for second though disaster struck in turn one as contact occurred between Walker and youngster Kyle Larson as they raced for fourth, which resulted in the Vertullo Racing No. 83v being sent high into the air in turn one making heavy contact with the top of the catch fence. Larson's machine suffered heavy damage but thankfully he was able to get out of the car and appeared to be okay after one of the scariest accidents we could recall in recent memory.
After the contact Walker also suffered a flat right rear tire and was forced to pit to get it changed, resulting in an amazing turn of events as the top two Golden State Challenge Series championship contenders sat nose to tail at the rear of the field with three laps completed. When the green lights came back on Kaeding would step up his challenge as he rode the rim of the slick and treacherous 1/3 mile clay oval and moved his BK Motorsports, High Five Pizza No. 69 to the top spot with a huge run off turn four on lap six. Statler also found his groove and was able to get a great run on Tarlton to take over second just before a caution appeared on lap nine.
On the restart young and talented GSC rookie Brandon Carey of Ripon made an impressive move to charge to the high side of the raceway and take over third from Tarlton aboard his Carey Racing, Vernon Transportation Company No. 55. A yellow flag occurred shortly thereafter however, and Tarlton was able to find new life making a tremendous rebound just when it looked like he was sliding backwards. When the green flag waved again the Easton competitor slid right back underneath Carey in turn one and then went to work on Statler the same lap to retake second behind the wheel of his Tarlton & Son Inc, Tachi Palace No. 21.
Tarlton then closed in quickly on Kaeding and made it a battle for the lead as lapped traffic had boxed "BK" in just passed the midway point of the feature. With the track taking rubber quickly it made things interesting as tire wear became an issue with the laps winding down. A caution then appeared on lap 22 giving Kaeding an open track for some breathing room and after this the Campbell veteran was untouchable. With eight laps remaining GSC point leader Allard had made a tremendous charge from the rear of the field to get back up to sixth and he appeared to not be done yet.
The final handful of laps then saw Visalia's Danny Faria Jr. lose a tire running fifth and Statler's great run come to a halt with him blowing a tire in turn one while sitting in third with just three to go. The event marked "The Big Guy's" first race back in a month and although the night ended with tough luck yet again, it was great to have the DF Rios Construction No. 00 back in action running strong. For Faria Jr. it was a rough way to end a top five run as he was making his very first Golden State Challenge Series start of the season and was doing a great job in the feature at the time of the tire issue.
When the green lights came on for the final time it was all "BK" up front as he pulled away from the field to score his 82nd career Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series victory. "We're really hitting our stride at the right time and I have to thank all the fans for coming out and supporting us tonight," Kaeding said. "I gotta thank Tommy Tarlton for a great race and also that 0 car cause it looks like he did a great job to get back up here after that spin earlier."
Tarlton crossed under the Willie Williams checkered flag in second to score his second straight runner-up finish with the Golden State Challenge Series at the Thunderbowl. "We had a great car tonight, but Brent just seemed to find the rubber a little earlier and was able to get by me there," Tarlton commented. "We're having a lot of fun this year though and Paul Baines has this car hooked up and I'm just looking forward to the rest of the season. I want to thank all our sponsors and supporters because we have a lot of them down in this area."
Following the early race spin Allard made a great recovery to carve his way through the pack and score yet another podium finish in third aboard his Williams Motorsports, Sharp Insurance No. 0. "To be able to come through the field like that really shows just how fast this car is right now," Allard said. "It's been a great season and this championship battle has been tremendous because they don't come much better than Tyler Walker and Brent Kaeding and we'll just look forward to Chico next week."
Crossing the line fourth in the main event and scoring his best ever Golden State Challenge Series finish was Carey, who has been a great addition to the traveling roster this season. Carey looked very comfortable on the challenging Thunderbowl Raceway clay and with Larson's accident early in the feature he has closed in on the top five in points for the first time in his GSC career. Rounding out the top five was Clovis racer Peter Murphy, who charged from the 15th starting position at the helm of the locally based Roth Motorsports No. 83jr. sprinter. Completing the top 10 in the feature was 18th place starter Craig Stidham, 23rd place starter Trevor Green, Andy Gregg, Tyler Walker and Danny Faria Jr.
The Bandit Wingless 360 Sprint Car Series main event saw a good battle up front between youngster Richard Vanderweerd and veteran Rusty Carlile with Vanderweerd coming out on top after 30 laps of racing. Vanderweerd was able to get the jump on the field and lead the first eight laps, until Carlile used a strong restart to take command off turn two. Bandit ace Peter Murphy then moved to second on lap 12, but Vanderweerd would fight his way back just a couple laps later and then close back in on the leader.
With most of the drivers using the high line of the Thunderbowl Raceway Vanderweerd got a great push on lap 18 and slid around Carlile to take the over the top spot that he would never relinquish. The driver of the No. 10 sprinter would race away from the field over the final laps and pick up his first career victory at the 1/3 mile clay oval. Carlile would finish in second with Murphy in third and Jace Vanderweerd making a great recovery following an opening lap spin to finish fourth at the line. Completing the top five was youngster Michael Faccinto.
In the modified ranks out west few are better than Salinas, CA's Bobby Hogge IV and Oakley's Kellen Chadwick and the Thunderbowl Raceway crowd was treated to a great battle up front between the talented duo on Saturday night. At the waving of the green flag Chadwick powered into the lead and Hogge made his way into second after just a handful of circuits. On lap nine Hogge then got side-by-side with the leader and the pair went wheel-to-wheel over the next couple of laps with the Salinas racer coming out with the lead on lap 11.
Chadwick wasn't done yet however, and was able to get back alongside Hogge on the 12th lap and push his way back into the top spot on lap 13. The hot and heavy action continued a couple laps later though as Hogge continued to be relentless in the fight for the lead and retook the spot on lap 15. After this Hogge checked out from the field to pick up his second straight win at the Thunderbowl and it was good enough to give him his first Western States Modifieds title. Chadwick finished second with Alex Stanford, Ryan Porter and Bryan Burns completing the top five.
The Thunderbowl Raceway will now go dark for the rest of the summer before resuming action with the 16th annual Trophy Cup on October 22, 23 and 24. Don't forget tickets are on sale for the Trophy Cup as well as the USAC National Sprint Car Series sanctioned Pacific Coast Nationals to be held November 14th and 15th. For tickets contact the Thunderbowl Raceway office at (559) 688-0909. For more info log onto http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Campbell, CA's Brent Kaeding won his fourth straight Pombo/Sargent Classic title on Saturday night at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. It also marked the third Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series victory of the season for BK and the Al's Roofing Supply No. 69 team. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
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